Residents, local officials push for more study on Hiawatha line expansion

Officials and residents in Lake Forest and other North Shore communities affected by a project that would increase Amtrak service on the Hiawatha line between Milwaukee and Chicago are calling for a comprehensive study to evaluate potential impacts on residents and ecosystems.

Lake Forest hosted a public forum Monday night to discuss the proposed project that would increase service on the line from seven round trips a day to 10 round trips a day. According to the city's website, over 100 people attended the meeting, including incoming U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, of Deerfield, and representatives from the offices of State Sen. Julie Morrison and State Rep. Scott Drury.

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The proposed project impacts multiple towns in addition to Lake Forest, including Glenview, Northbrook, Deerfield and Bannockburn, and entails five projects along existing railway lines. One of the proposed projects includes installing between 13,000 and 18,000 feet of new and restructured railway tracks adjacent to the existing rail line near the Academy Woods Subdivision, which is located north of Kennedy Road between Waukegan Road and Interstate 94, according to a presentation displayed at Monday's Lake Forest forum.

The purpose of the project is to reduce travel times and increase speeds by providing a third rail for freight trains to pull onto so that passenger trains traveling up to 79 miles per hour can pass. Lake Forest City Manager Bob Kiely said the result would mean passing freight trains would be 14 feet closer to adjacent homes west of the tracks.

The agencies involved in the project include the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which requested the additional trips on the Hiawatha line, the Illinois Department of Transportation and Amtrak, along with the Federal Railroad Administration.

The Federal Railroad Administration has the final say on whether or not the project can move forward and will also supply a significant portion of the estimated $150 million necessary for the proposal to become a reality, according to Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.

Magliari said the railway company "operates this service under contract with the Wisconsin and Illinois Department of Transportation and the majority partner in this (project) is the Wisconsin DOT."

Lake Forest and other neighboring communities successfully lobbied to extend the public comment period on the project's environmental assessment from Nov. 15 to Jan. 15. The assessment was published in October.

Kiely said the municipalities requested that the Federal Railroad Administration require the lead agencies on the project to produce an environmental impact study, which is also referred to as an environmental impact statement.

The environmental assessment concludes that the increase in the number of Amtrak trains would result in "no noise impacts to adjacent properties" and "no impacts to adjacent properties." Additionally, the assessment states that the creation of a side rail would create "no adverse noise or vibration."

Kiely said an environmental impact study differs from an assessment because it is a more comprehensive study of the impacts a proposed project may have on an area.

"That's why the communities initially said they'd like to see a full environmental impact study done so we all have complete knowledge and information as to what those noise and vibration impacts are going to be," he said.

Deerfield Village Manager Kent Street said municipal officials continue to investigate the proposal and have also called for an environmental impact study.

"The (environmental assessment) provides inadequate supporting documentation on air quality, noise and other health and safety impacts," Deerfield Mayor Harriet Rosenthal wrote in a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration. "The Village strongly recommends that more consideration needs to be given to the health and human factors and calls for the completion of a more comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)."

Schneider released a statement supporting efforts for the more in-depth environmental impact study.

"I hear every day from constituents concerned about the proposed project and look forward to working with my colleagues in the Illinois delegation and other local elected officials to make our communities' voices heard," Schneider said in a statement. "I'm hopeful we can urge the Federal Railroad Administration to undertake a more comprehensive Environmental Impact Study that would examine the full environmental and economic effects of this project on the neighboring communities."

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Municipal officials said the federal agency is expected to issue a decision either requiring the impact study or a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and an approval of the environmental assessment sometime during the first quarter of next year.

If no impact study is required, the lead agencies on the project will begin the process of securing the necessary funding, according to the presentation delivered Monday in Lake Forest.

JoAnn Desmond, president of the Academy Woods homeowners association, has spearheaded local opposition to the proposed project and is fully supportive of the environmental impact study request.

Both Desmond and Rick Cusack, who lives adjacent to the railway in the Pine Oaks subdivision off of Conway Road, said the project will exacerbate what they see as the already existing problem of too many freight trains carrying hazardous materials passing by and sometimes idling for hours very close to residents' homes.

They say the project heightens risks and could have potentially detrimental impacts to the nearby Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve.

"As ridership grows, near‐capacity and over‐capacity conditions (especially on trains 330, 332, 337 and 339) are expected to occur more frequently if no improvements are made to the service. Peak trains are often over capacity. Ridership is continuing to increase, despite the fall in gas prices. There is also significant and growing ridership on the mid-day off-peak trains," wrote Mae Knowles, a spokesperson for WisDOT, in an email.

Knowles did not address questions regarding residents' concerns about increased noise and the risks of pollution or train derailments.